Game writeup

In this post I will go through a detailed explanation of my mobile game; wandering star:

Logging in

[Image: login screen]

Players can create their own wandering star account (username and password) on downloading the game, At the beginning of each game session users can log in to their game and access the main menu, this prevents other people from accessing an individuals game and allows players who do not own for example a Facebook account to sign in to the game with ease without having to set up an account with social media just to log in.

Menu interface

[Image: Game menu screens]

The menu interface is simple and colourful, with bold writing that is easy to read.

Once the player has logged in they are sent to the main menu screen where they can choose to play a single player or multi player game, or view their achievements, settings or the game’s credits.

If a player chooses single player game play they are redirected to the single player options where they can choose to go to level select (once a level is selected the game begins), uploaded images (which can be shared on social media), or personal scores (including global and friends list high scores).

[Image: wire frame of the menu interface]

From the single player/story mode game screen, players can access the pause menu, where they have the option to save, quit the game, view achievements, or go back to the main menu.

If the player chooses multi player they are redirected to the invite a friend screen and then if their game is accepted they can select a stage and begin playing.

Players cannot pause multi player battles as it could be used to an unfair advantage (pausing the game and striking enemies quickly on return when they don’t expect it)

Single player

[Image: single player battle]

In single player games, the player is represented by the hero character on the right hand side of the screen. The basic objective is to destroy the waves of robotic minions that approach you before they get close enough to attack (melee) for each hit you take your health bar will go down, and once emptied you reach a game over.

To attack these minions, the player must use the colour buttons on the left hand side of the screen to select a colour and tap minions of the same colour to destroy them. The enemy health bar acts as a group health bar and tells the player how far they are through the wave (if the health bar is at half way point the player has killed half of the enemies in this level etc)

The player receives points for destroying minions, and bonus points for doing so quickly. The player loses points for hitting minions with the wrong colour.

The player can also use a swipe motion to hit multiple enemies, however they will still lose points if some of the enemies are the wrong colour.

When the player has accumulated a certain number of points (lets say 300, assuming a kill gives roughly 25 points, so every 12 enemies or so) The player’s turbo charge bar will fill up and they will be able to use the special attack, which is triggered by the accelerometer. Players shake the device to unleash the special attack and destroy all enemies currently on screen regardless of what colour they are. Special attack points will not contribute to the next charge up of the turbo charge bar.

Total number of points in a game is saved and submitted to the high scores page.

[In both single player and multi player games the background of the stage gradually changes, the black and white filter placed over it gradually cracks and disappears to unveil a colourful vibrant background image.]

Multi player

[Image: Multi player battle]

Multi player game play is essentially the same as a boss fight, in which the player faces the main villain, Felis.

The player attacks using the same technique they use to destroy her minions while Felis regularly changes colour, making the player choose different ammo.

This is slightly more difficult as the colour changes are relatively quick and unexpected, and Felis has a health bar equal to the player, who she will attack from time to time.

The difficulty of the game will determine how quickly Felis’ colour changes and how often she attacks the player (on multi player both players will automatically be set to the same difficulty and on each player’s screen the character they are opposing will alternate between colours)

There is no pause button on multi player games to avoid unfair advantages created by players who may pause the game and restart it in order to catch other players by surprise.

[In both single player and multi player games the background of the stage gradually changes, the black and white filter placed over it gradually cracks and disappears to unveil a colourful vibrant background image.]

Photo backgrounds

[Image: taking a photo for the background]

After every boss battle players will get the option to customise the next area (a black hole area that has been destroyed and needs re-building) with one of their own photos.

If the player skips this option the stage will show with one of the regular backgrounds that come with the game but it will still be customisable at a later point.

When a player uploads a photo a number of filters are applied to it, at the start of a game a lot of the colour is filtered out, and as the game progresses the images colour slowly returns like in the regular stages of the game.

Sharing with social media

[Image: Gallery photo with sharing options in the game menu interface]

Photos can also be shared via social media, along with achievements, high scores, and level progress.

The game can post progress to social media websites such as facebook, tumblr, instagram and twitter.

This doubles up as both a way of rewarding the player by sharing their progress as well as an effective means of advertising and expanding the game’s fan base.

Rewards

[Image: achievements page on game menu interface]

My reward system allows users to track their progress by the following;

Posting progress such as achievements, level ups, multi-player wins and high scores to social media

Players can also attempt to climb the global high scores

Level progression rewards players by allowing hem to progress though the game

Photo background uploads are also a reward of completing boss battles

Achievements reward players for a number of actions such as killing a certain amount of minions or playing a certain number of multi player games.

players can look in the level selection page and see all the levels they have unlocked, including levels they have customised (submitted a photo background) making the game customisable and creative.

Submitting photo backgrounds allows players the chance to customise the game and fight in their own version of the world.

Players can choose to post their progress to social media so their friends can see it, and also keep track of their score in high score charts which include their friends from social media as well as global high scores.